What's Meant to Be
by Beth Smith
Summary: The Glee kids reunite 15 years after graduation to realize some things will never change, but some have changed forever.
1. Chapter 1: Going Home

_**Chapter 1: Going Home**_

_New York City, Friday morning, 6:30 AM_

Rachel and Finn grabbed their bags and ran out the door of their Upper East Side apartment in New York City. Rachel had managed to take a week out of her busy schedule on Broadway as Maria in the most recent revival of _West Side Story_, and they were going home to reunite with their former Glee club members after 15 years apart since graduation.

Neither of them could wait.

-.-.-

A few buildings away, Kurt was shaking Sam awake. "Come on, love! We gotta go!"

The tall blonde had fallen asleep getting his bags together. "Seriously?" Kurt demanded. "How do you fall asleep while you're _walking_?"

Sam woke with a start, and said, "I'm sorry, babe... I'm just jet lagged again." Sam flew out to see Kurt as often as he could, from his home in California. It sucked that they couldn't just live together, but Sam was a surfing instructor in Malibu, and Kurt couldn't just up and leave New York City, when he was starring as Mark in a revival of RENT.

"Well, we've gotta go catch our flight to Ohio... Nowish," Kurt said, in full-on diva mode.

Standing up and giving Kurt a kiss on the cheek, Sam laughed out loud. "You're such a drama queen."

-.-.-

_Dayton, Ohio, Friday afternoon, 4:00 pm_

Quinn locked the door to her office at Stivers School for the Arts. It had been a long and stressful day for the guidance counselor, but she loved her job. She stretched her back and rolled her neck from side to side trying to relieve some of the stiffness in her bones. This afternoon, she'd be going home for a visit to Lima, about 60 miles from Dayton.

"Hi, honey... You ready to go?"

Quinn smiled up at her fiance, Jason, who taught theatre at the school. "Yes! Definitely."

The two of them walked out to their respective cars. Jason had to come back a bit early from Lima for a rehearsal, but Quinn was staying the whole weekend. As Quinn cranked her car, she took a deep breath. This was going to be interesting. It had been so long since she'd seen the whole group together, and she wasn't sure what to expect.

-.-.-

_Lima, Ohio, Friday Afternoon, approx. 4:45 pm_

Mercedes had just returned from a day of recording, working on a demo for another round with the record companies. She'd been working hard, and this one was better than ever. At the moment, she was a manager of a great new clothing store in the mall, but music was still her love and passion, and she couldn't wait to reunite with the ones she'd shared it with many years ago. And that was why she was driving like crazy to McKinley High.

-.-.-

Tina and Mike locked up the dance studio they co-owned, and hopped into Tina's car to head over to McKinley High. They were running late, and still had to stop along the way to pick up Artie, whom Tina had been dating for a while. They hoped they'd make it in time to surprise Mr. Schue.

-.-.-

Santana pulled her car into the visitor parking lot at McKinley, The school was more or less empty, save for a few members of the office staff and the cars of the Glee club members. "I can't believe we're really here..." her girlfriend Brittany said from the passenger's seat. "Mr. Schue's gonna flip."

"Britt..." Santana said, glancing at the blonde in mild annoyance. "We work here. We were just here a few hours ago."

"Oh, yeah..." she replied. It was true. Santana had taken over as cheerleading coach when Sue Sylvester had retired the previous spring, and Brittany was a receptionist at the front desk.

The two women climbed out of the car and went inside.

-.-.-

Puck almost hadn't come at all. Sure he missed the glee club. But something about Lima always reminded him that there was one thing he'd left behind there that he never should've let go. High school had been a crazy time for him, and now that he was pretty well removed from it, he wasn't sure what was making him come back.

He told himself it was to see his old friends... Finn and Artie and the other guys... and Mr. Schue, the closest thing he'd had to a father.

But the truth was, Puck still loved Quinn Fabray. And he wondered if maybe, just maybe... there was a chance she still loved him, too.


	2. Chapter 2: Surprise

_**Chapter 2: Surprise!**_

Mr. Schue had just dismissed the day's glee club rehearsal, and was cleaning up a rather large collection of props they'd been using for this year's school musical. The glee club had worked hard on their own rendition of _Moulin Rouge!_, which would be performed that night at 8, and the following two nights as well.

So lost was he in his cleaning, that he didn't even notice when his former students came in. With grins all around, the group watched Rachel count down from 3 on her fingers, and they all started singing Chicago's "Baby, What a Big Surprise."

Mr. Schue whirled around in shock. "What?" he exclaimed, his face showing surprise and extreme joy at seeing his very first glee club (more or less) together again. He walked over to them, and started hugging, only to be almost crushed in a massive group hug.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked, looking around the room at the older and more mature faces of his former students. "Rachel and Kurt, aren't you guys doing Broadway now? How on earth did you get time off to come here?"

Kurt grinned. "I told them I had a horrible case of laryngitis, and the understudy stepped in."

Rachel looked at Kurt in shock. "I... Did that, too."

The whole group dissolved into laughter at the similar tales of two of their resident divas.

"We came back to see you, Mr. Schue," Finn said. "Brittany and Santana told us when the musical was gonna be this year, and we all wanted to see it."

"I'm so glad you guys all came," he replied, still unable to believe his eyes.

"Need help movin' these props, Mr. Schue?" Puck asked, noting the huge amount of stuff around the room.

The teacher grinned. "Absolutely... Why weren't you this helpful in high school, Puck?"

A grin from the former slacker got the whole group laughing again. "Come on, Mr. Schue," Puck protested in a joking tone. "I've still got a rep to maintain, here!"

Everybody pitched in, and within a few minutes, they had everything where it needed to be on the stage, or just off stage for easy scene changes. Mr. Schue glanced at his watch. "It's only 5:30," he said. "I've gotta be back here in an hour and a half, but that's plenty of time for Breadstix, right?"

A chorus of affirmative exclamations let the teacher know that his suggestion was more than appreciated. He laughed, as the entire group rushed out to get food before they had to get back to the school.

Once at Breadstix, and settled in with their food in front of them, the talk amongst the former glee clubmates rose to a dull roar over the general din of the restaurant.

Quinn chose that moment to speak up. "Guys," she said, sort of clearing her throat nervously. "I know some of you have met Jason, but... This is my fiance, Jason Michaels. We're getting married this fall." She smiled as the man reached over to take her hand.

The little "family" gave a cheer, excited to see one of their own so happy. All of them, that is, except Puck, but no one really noticed.

Mr. Schue was extremely happy for his former student. Her bright smile brought one to his own face, until suddenly, something in his mind clicked. His smile faded as he realized that he needed to talk to a couple of his old students before the play tonight. Preferably as soon as possible.


	3. Chapter 3: The Unexpected

**Disclaimer/AN: **_Moulin Rouge! _and its lyrics are not mine. Also thanks for the reviews! And I am sorry it took so long to post. Enjoy!

**Chapter 3: The Unexpected**

The conversation around the table was so enjoyable that they all lost track of time, until Mr. Schue looked at his watch. "Oh, man! Guys, I gotta go!" he exclaimed, jumping up from the table, as he left enough cash to pay his bill and cover a decent tip.

He rushed out the door, and the group began to wind down, so that they could all go to Artie and Tina's place to change quickly for the play.

Mr. Schue was less than a mile from Breadstix when he realized he hadn't had a chance to pull aside the two students he'd wanted to talk to before the play. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he found Quinn Fabray listed in the contacts list... He never deleted his glee students' numbers for some reason, and in this moment, he was grateful. Her phone rang and rang, and then, "You've reached Quinn Fabray. Please leave me a message, and I'll call you back. Thanks!"

-.-

Quinn's phone lit up in her purse across the room as she put on her makeup in Tina's bathroom. "It's so weird being back here," she said, laughing lightly, as she turned to look at Tina. "It's so great to see everyone again," she added.

Tina nodded. "I don't think we could've done any better surprising Mr. Schue if we'd tried. Did you see his face?"

The blonde laughed. "He looked like he'd seen a ghost!"

"He kinda did," Mercedes said, shrugging. "He hasn't seen all of us together since graduation."

The girls hurried to get ready, but continued their chatting, all talking over each other trying to catch up on 15 years of missed hangout time in an hour. And Quinn's phone stopped lighting up.

-.-

Less than an hour later, the former glee club was seated on the sixth row of the auditorium, excited to see their former teacher's new group of students perform. Quinn sat between her fiance and Kurt, and she smiled at both of them, slipping each of her arms through one of theirs, smiling at both of them. "My two favorite men in the world," she said, a contented sigh escaping her as the lights flickered, then dimmed for the play.

Mr. Schue walked out on stage, and offered a few words of thanks to the crowd, along with asking them to make sure their phones were turned to silent, and that they not move around during the performance. And then, the play began. Mr. Schue had obviously edited it a little to make it more suitable for high school students, but it flowed well, and the kids seemed to be really enjoying it.

Puck was sitting between Artie and Finn, and had been goofing off with the two of them, largely ignoring what he considered a very girly play, except for when the students sang. Mr. Schue hadn't lost his touch as a director.

But that was all before a sweet voice rang out from the stage:

_I follow the night_  
_Can't stand the light_  
_When will I begin_  
_To live again?_

_One day I'll fly away_  
_Leave all this to yesterday_  
_What more could your Love do for me?_  
_When will Love be through with me?_

Puck's heart stopped as he looked up at the stage to see Quinn... no. That wasn't Quinn. But the girl who was singing just as easily could've been, given how much she looked like her. For a moment, it was like he was looking at his high school love again. The man felt a rush of heat wash over him, and suddenly, he felt really sick.

He glanced over at Quinn to see that she, too, had obviously noticed. The program was lying open in her lap, and she was staring down at it, tears flowing freely. That's when Puck opened up his program, too, and looked down, eyes locking in on the confirmation of what he'd already suspected.

_Satine - Beth Corcoran_


End file.
